1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to nail enamel compositions and compositions for filling in imperfections on the broad surface of human nails.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been recognized that when nail enamel or polish is applied to a human nail and dries, the appearance of the enamel or polish coating may be marred by cracking, peeling or chipping and by the natural ridges, bumps or other imperfections in the nail which are highlighted by the polish and give the finish an uneven appearance.
To help ameliorate the cracking, peeling and chipping problems, nail enamel formulations have been made incorporating strengthening fibers of synthetic materials, such as nylon fibers, which form a grid or mesh through the dried nail enamel coating and help prevent degradation or chipping of the coating.
In order to help disguise the natural ridges, bumps and other imperfections in the nail, it has been the conventional practice in the nail-care industry to provide a filling composition, usually containing an impalpable powder such as talc as a filling ingredient. Such filling compositions usually are applied to the nail prior to the application of a polish, i.e. enamel coat (or sometimes after application of an enamel coat) and tend to smooth out, i.e. level, the appearance of the nail, with the talc settling into the depressions so that a fairly even substrate is provided for the subsequent application of a nail polish coating.
The use of the conventional talc-containing filling compositions in association with fiber-containing nail enamels suffers from a significant number of drawbacks. In the first place, the user must generally apply one or two coats of filler and allow each coat to dry, and then apply one or two coats of nail enamel. Some users apply one or two coats of enamel before application of the filling ingredient and apply enamel again after the filler. This process, including drying time, is painstaking and time-consuming (often taking an hour or more). Furthermore, the talc in the filler often detracts from the gloss of the enamel overcoat.
A further drawback exists with respect to conventional fiber-containing enamels themselves. Upon drying, the enamel coating frequently shows the fibers on the nail, marring the nail appearance.
Although it has long been recognized in the cosmetics trade that it would be desirable to be able to apply a fibercontaining enamel to the nails without previously applying a filling base composition, experience has shown that the nylon or similar straight fibers contained in conventional enamel compositions do not fill in the valleys between nail ridges and so such an enamel finish prominently shows the ridges and valleys in the nail, which detract from the smoothness and attractiveness of the finish. To the present date, no nail enamel formulation has been created which provides a fiber-reinforced, lustrous finish with high gloss, while simultaneously filling in the valleys between the nail ridges without the need for prior application of a filling composition, and without having the fibers in the enamel show up on the nail after drying.